# UK radio "journalist" makes an ass of himself and then doubles down **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 26, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251 "2021-10-26T20:35:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/1 "2021-10-26T20:35:53Z")
The presenters at UK talkRadio appear to hold “all PR is good PR” as a sacred truth. First Mike Graham gets twitter famous for a day for trying to gotcha environmental activist Cameron Ford for being a carpenter: > MG: … how is it sustainable if you’re killing trees? > CF: Because it’s regenerative. You can grow trees. > MG: Right. You can grow all sorts of things, can’t you? > CG: Well you can’t grow concrete. > MG: Yes you can. > _Five seconds of silence_ > MG: See you Cameron (Just the first retweet of the video I could find.) > The station’s twitter account have retweeted the video multiple times, and also tweeted a response tweet with a lengthy conversation between Mike and another moron presenter where they try to somehow convince themselves and their actual audience that Mike doesn’t have severe cognitive impairment. Among the better arguments “Concrete does grow, so I wasn’t wrong.” I think more people should respond this way in live situation. Someone says something incredibly stupid, just raise your eyebrows and wait them out. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/2 "2021-10-26T23:36:31Z")
I get the impression when this ‘journalist’ asked the question “what do you do for a living” that the answer he got was not what he anticipated. A lot of these commentators mock environmental activists as being students/unemployed/retired or ‘professional activists’ (in other words people with a lot of time on their hands). And the extension of that is they are inconveniencing the ‘actual’ working class who just want to earn their living. This particular activist being a carpenter - someone in a traditional working class trade - bucks the caricature this radio host probably intended to paint. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/3 "2021-10-27T01:22:20Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > I get the impression when this ‘journalist’ asked the question “what do you do for a living” that the answer he got was not what he anticipated . . . An actual journalist wouldn’t have asked the question live on air unless he already knew what the answer would be. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/4 "2021-10-27T11:52:08Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > I get the impression when this ‘journalist’ asked the question “what do you do for a living” that the answer he got was not what he anticipated. Not sure - I think he thought (for small values of ‘thought’) that he had an unassailable ‘gotcha’ n the whole cutting down trees thing. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/5 "2021-10-27T15:12:38Z")
How the heck are they justifying saying concrete grows? Rocks, limestone, clay, sand, and water. Which of those is growing? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/6 "2021-10-27T15:14:13Z")
They said it, they want it to be true, so IT IS true. Magical, childlike thinking. This is how they go through life. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/7 "2021-10-27T15:23:35Z")
He has now had two goes at justifying himself: > > I haven’t watched them because a) you can’t weasel out of this one pal and b) my brain has, on the whole, been good to me and I so no reason to inflict this kind of insult on it. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/8 "2021-10-27T16:01:26Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > I haven’t watched them because a) you can’t weasel out of this one pal and b) my brain has, on the whole, been good to me and I so no reason to inflict this kind of insult on it. In that last one he admits that production and use of concrete is a massive net CO2 source, he lets his “Applied futurist” guest talk a lot about how we should have invested in all this research 20-30 years ago, but the second best time to do it is right now. But as someone who probably accepted a guest appearance to sell his book the “applied futurist” does give Mike a “win” by answering “yes” to “Yes or no, can you grow concrete?”. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/9 "2021-10-27T16:48:16Z")
Looks like Mike Graham is a living embodiment of this illustration [![](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/112/840/9cf) ](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/112/840/9cf) ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/10 "2021-10-27T16:49:08Z")
Unsurprisingly it made at least one appearance in replies to the first video. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/11 "2021-10-27T18:36:26Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > How the heck are they justifying saying concrete grows? Maybe when it expands during times of high heat? (Hence why expansion joints are installed in concrete structures.) Technically that’s a form of “growth”. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/12 "2021-10-27T19:25:25Z")
I watched the follow-up clips and it is even stupider than you guessed: When you mix sand, cement and water, it grows into concrete. Man, that journalist really owned the libs on this one! ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/13 "2021-10-27T19:56:39Z")
Who uses that terminology??? I’ve never heard it referred to as “growing.” It’s not some UKism I’m unfamiliar with, right? ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/14 "2021-10-27T19:58:30Z")
I growed some lovely biscuits to go with my tea. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/15 "2021-10-27T20:20:11Z")
Is “renewable resource” a completely foreign concept to Mike? That was my first thought. My second thought was “This guy’s an idiot.” I don’t understand what leads people to double down on things that are obviously stupid brain farts. No one’s perfect. The correct follow up to “You can grow concrete” is; “I’m sorry that wast stupid.” Laugh it off and “What I meant to say was…” And rephrase or just move on and change the topic. “Growing” implies a natural/biological process. Like planting a seed in soil and combining water, light and time. Going by Mike’s logic I could say, “If I combine money, my car, and a grocery store I can grow food in my refrigerator.” That’s not how that word works. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/16 "2021-10-27T20:33:48Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > How the heck are they justifying saying concrete grows? Rocks, limestone, clay, sand, and water. Which of those is growing? > **Limestone** is a common type of [carbonate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonate_rock) [sedimentary rock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedimentary_rock). It is composed mostly of the [minerals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minerals) [calcite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcite) and [aragonite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aragonite), which are different [crystal forms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymorphism_(materials_science)) of [calcium carbonate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_carbonate) (CaCO > 3). Limestone forms when these minerals [precipitate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precipitation_(chemistry)) out of water containing dissolved calcium. This can take place through both biological and nonbiological processes, though biological processes have likely been more important for the last 540 million years.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limestone#cite_note-1) Limestone often contains [fossils](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil), and these provide scientists with information on ancient environments and on the [evolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution) of life.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limestone#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBoggs2006159-2) Checkmate, Libtards! Admittedly the current timescale for growing additional limestone is somewhat of an inconvenience, but I’m sure we’ll have that sorted by Friday. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/17 "2021-10-27T20:47:38Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I’m sure we’ll have that sorted by Friday. Friday two weeks from now. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/18 "2021-10-27T22:08:03Z")
Or 540 million years, whichever comes last. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/19 "2021-10-27T22:26:41Z")
Check out the goings-on in La Palma in the Canary Islands. That’s one way rock grows. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251/20 "2021-10-28T00:15:40Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > Looks like Mike Graham is a living embodiment of this illustration > > [![|690x329] > (https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/112/840/9cf) ](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/112/840/9cf) I don’t get it. Should I? Is it pretty obvious? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-radio-journalist-makes-an-ass-of-himself-and-then-doubles-down/953251.md?page=2)